Hoff the Record, there’s a brand new commission for Dave

26th June 2014

UKTV's number one most watched non-PSB channel Dave continues to bring wit to your world, this time welcoming international TV legend David Hasselhoff to the channel. Hoff the Record (6x30') is a brand new and exclusive six part semi-improvised comedy series, produced by Me & You Productions (the award winning makers of An Idiot Abroad).

David Hasselhoff says,

When I made Baywatch I dreamed of one day having my own show on a channel named after me. Hoff The Record is coming soon to the UK, only on Dave. They did name the channel after me, right??

Shot in the style of a documentary, Hoff the Record is about the life of The Hoff, a fictionalised version of Hasselhoff, 30 years after rising to fame with the global hits Knight Rider and Baywatch. After five divorces and some misguided career decisions, the series follows The Hoff as he moves to the UK to get his career back on track and make sense of his increasingly surreal life. It is an ambitious project, blurring the lines between real life and improvisational comedy and it will be filmed in the UK, and overseas, with an ensemble cast of new and established comedy talent.

An original commission, Hoff the Record has been ordered by UKTV's Director of Commissioning Richard Watsham and Dave General Manager Steve North. The executive producers for Me & You Productions are Krishnendu Majumdar, Richard Yee and Eric Gardner, and for UKTV, Commissioning Editor Iain Coyle. The series is directed by the multi award-winning Misha Manson-Smith and the show will air on Dave in 2015.

BBC Worldwide, who developed the project and who are co-funding the series, will retain the global distribution rights for Hoff the Record.

We grew up watching David Hasselhoff on TV so we are thrilled to be working with such a legend and are amazed that he is game to play a jaw dropping version of himself for us. This is our first series for Dave and it's great to be on such a supportive broadcaster making an ambitious cutting edge comedy series.

UKTV's Commissioning Editor, Iain Coyle says,

We are delighted to be working with a living legend. The Hoff is unique and so is this show; funny, clever and bizarre in a good way. I can't wait.

Steve North, General Manager for Dave, adds

It is a slightly surreal series for Dave and has to be seen to be believed, but it promises to be brilliant and to have The Hoff on the channel is a great coup. It cements Dave as the place to be for risk-taking comedies.

We're excited to be so closely involved with developing such a unique project that has the potential to tap into the eternal fascination people everywhere around the world have with David.

Dave's original comedy slate continues to grow following announcements of recurring original comedy series Dave Gorman Modern Life is Goodish, Ross Noble Freewheeling, Crackanory and introducing new five part comedy conversational series Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

About Dave HD (Sky 111/232, Virgin 128, HD: 129, Freeview 12)

Dave proudly presents a plethora of original commissions; Crackanory, Ross Noble Freewheeling, Dave Gorman's Modern Life is Goodish, and Dara O Briain: School of Hard Sums, all laden with the biggest names in British comedy. Not to mention a brand spanking new series with QI favourite Alan Davies in Alan Davies As Yet Untitled.

If that wasn't enough to whet your appetite we also have a stack of national treasures like QI, Red Dwarf X, Mock the Week and Have I Got News For You, not to mention the Red Bull trilogy of Cliff Diving, X-Fighters and the Soap Box races. And of course, we still have Top Gear.

Obviously we have to add, Dave is the UK's most watched non-PSB channel broadcasting to over 27 million people per month, featuring hit US shows including the sharp-witted and sharp-suited Suits, the ludicrously addictive Lizard Lick Towing and the wonder that is Storage Hunters, the gift that keeps on giving.

UKTV

UKTV is the multi-award winning media company that reaches over 42 million viewers per month.

UKTV's ten imaginative channel brands - Watch, Dave, Gold, Alibi, Eden, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home and Good Food - include the most watched non-PSB channel, the most watched channel in the Factual genre and the most watched channels in the Lifestyle genre (Pay and Free). The company's most recent financial results showed a record-breaking year-end revenue of £262m, and operating profit at £71m.

UKTV has a truly innovative model, curating brand-defining commissions, high-profile acquisitions and the very best of BBC and Channel 4 content, and embracing technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT TV, TalkTalk, YouView, plus direct On Demand digital services. The network distributes its highly valued programmes to 200 territories around the world and supplies Sky with more hours of HD content than anyone else.

Now celebrating its 21st year at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the only British broadcaster to be recognised by Best Companies.

ABOUT DAVID HASSELHOFF

In 1982, David Hasselhoff landed in prime time for one of the most recognizable roles of his career, that of Michael Knight on the hit show Knight Rider. The show was a huge success in the United States and overseas and made him one of the most recognizable actors on TV. In 1989, Hasselhoff returned to TV to produce and star in the series Baywatch, which became the most watched show in TV history; David himself remains a fixture in The Guinness Book of World Records as the most watched actor in the history of television. The textbook definition of multi-faceted, he has since starred on Broadway (Jekyll & Hyde) and on the Las Vegas stage (The Producers), spoken at both the Oxford and Cambridge Student Unions (joining such iconic past speakers as Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, and the Dalai Lama), and appeared as a judge on the blockbuster TV series America's Got Talent and Britain's Got Talent. He is currently juggling three major projects: filming a new UKTV series entitled 'Hoff The Record'; producing, hosting, and headlining a series of European festivals 'Celebrate The 80s & 90s with The Hoff'; and filming 'Killing Hasselhoff', a feature film he is producing and starring in.

(contact: info@panacea-ent.com, http://davidhasselhoffonline.com/)

ABOUT ME & YOU PRODUCTIONS

Me & You Productions is an independent production company founded by the award-winning co-creators and makers of three series of the BAFTA-nominated AN IDIOT ABROAD, Richard Yee and Krishnendu Majumdar. Me & You's first production was AN IDIOT ABROAD 3 - a 3 x60' series and Sky1's highest rating show of 2012. They produced THE MOANING OF LIFE, a 5x60' series for Sky1HD for Autumn 2013. The series has broken viewing records for Sky. BBC Worldwide is distributing it globally and the DVD was one of the best selling TV comedy titles over Christmas 2013.

They are show runners who specialise in creating, producing and directing documentaries and comedy, and are developing a slate of projects including THE MOANING OF LIFE Series 2 (6 x 60' mins) with Karl Pilkington; BORN TO DANCE (6x30') a comedy series for BBC Comedy / BBC Worldwide starring by Sarah Hadland (Miranda) and directed by Richard Laxton (Him & Her) and a couple of comedy series with comedian Tom Davis - BOBBY DUKE'S GRAND TOUR and THE WARLORD OF HITHER GREEN.

Their work has been seen at international film festivals and television networks around the world. It has won a number of awards, including a Mental Health in Media award, and additionally nominated for many others - including an RTS award, Broadcast award, British Comedy Award, two National Television Awards, two BAFTAs and a Grierson award. AN IDIOT ABROAD is a global hit. It has sold over 1.6 million DVDs in the UK, over one million books in the UK and the show has been sold to 210 territories.

In the past, they've created and produced series like the Mark Dolan travelogue THE WORLD'S SMALLEST... AND ME (Channel 4), BLEACH, NIP, TUCK: THE WHITE BEAUTY MYTH (Channel 4) and many other high profile single documentaries like the BAFTA nominated polemic WHO YOU CALLIN' A NIG*ER? (Channel 4), the observational political profile - MICHAEL HOWARD: NO MORE MR.NASTY (BBC2) and the docudrama COKED UP BRITAIN (Sky). They have worked with a wide range of talent including Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Christopher Eccleston, Darcus Howe and Ruby Wax.

Richard and Krish are both active members of BAFTA - they have both sat on BAFTA awards juries. Krish was on the Board of Trustees of BAFTA (2006-10) and the Board of Directors UK (2010-2012). Since 2006, Krish has been an elected member of the BAFTA Television Committee and has chaired 18 BAFTA television juries.

ABOUT MISHA MANSON-SMITH

Misha is a multi-award winning director. He began his career editing and directing multi-BAFTA and Emmy winning documentaries like Death in Gaza (HBO) and Britain's Favourite Hoaxer (C4). He has gone on to direct many landmark dramas and comedy series, from My New Best Friend (C4), to Excluded (BBC Two), to La La Land (Showtime).

In film, Misha recently shot Barbados; a short, LA set drama starring Michael Sheen, written by George Kay and produced by Will Ferrell and Judd Apatow's Funny Or Die. Misha is also in pre-pre-production on Sex Education with Ruby Films for BBC Films from a script that was voted no.1 on the 2010 Brit List. And he's co-writing and will direct Let's Pretend, an improvised comedy-thriller with Marc Wootton for Joe Wright and Paul Webster' Shoebox Films.

In television, Misha recently directed and co-created action comedy pilot In Deep for Big Talk and BBC Comedy. Starring Ashley Walters and Adam Deacon, it is due to TX July 2014. Misha has several other original series in development, including action-comedy Incognito for BBC in house (written by Jessica and Henrietta Ashworth). In 2013, Misha was the lead director on BBC Three comedy-drama Pramface, which has since transferred to BBC One and Hulu. He also directed part of Stephen Poliakoff's Golden Globe winning BBC Two/Starz mini-series Dancing On The Edge.

Prior to that, Misha directed the widely acclaimed single drama Excluded for BBC Two. In 2010, Misha directed, co-created and EP'd Showtime comedy series La La Land. It was described by both The Guardian and The Mirror as "Genius".

Misha has been nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards (including the Breakthrough Talent Award), won the British Comedy Award for Best New Comedy, has been twice nominated for the Rose D' Or for Best Comedy (winning once) and his work has garnered numerous other accolades, including an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Non-Fiction filmmaking and the BAFTA for Best Documentary.